Pope
Saint Leo the Great (c. 400-461), in a sermon on the Ascension, wrote,
“Since then Christ's Ascension is our uplifting, and the hope of the
Body is raised, whither the glory of the Head has gone before, let us
exult, dearly-beloved, with worthy joy and delight in the loyal paying
of thanks. For today not only are we confirmed as possessors of
paradise, but have also in Christ penetrated the heights of heaven…”

Fifteen centuries later, in his second volume of Jesus of Nazareth
(Ignatius, 2011), Pope Benedict XVI emphasized the central place of joy
and delight in the Solemnity of the Ascension, stating, “The joy of the
disciples after the ‘Ascension’ corrects our image of this event.”

What
is need of correction? The notion that Jesus, by ascending into heaven,
has gone away and is now somehow distant from mankind. But if that were
true, Benedict pointed out, it doesn’t make sense of the “great joy”
expressed by the disciples journeying to Emmaus after Jesus had blessed
them, “parted from them and was taken up to heaven” (Lk. 24:51-53).

Nor
would it explain why the disciples, having witnessed the ascension of
Christas we hear in today’s first readingimmediately set about
selecting a replacement for Judas (Acts 1:12-26). Rather than being
depressed and listless, the disciples were filled with anticipation and a
growing understanding of their mission. The opening of the Acts of the
Apostles does not flinch from showing that the disciples, even after the
Resurrection, were still coming to grips with the exact nature of
Jesus’ intentions for the Church and for the world. Between his
Resurrection and the his ascension, Jesus spent about forty days
instructing the apostles, “speaking about the kingdom of God”. Yet they
still asked, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to
Israel?”

As Benedict noted, “Jesus counters this notion of a
restored Davidic kingdom with a promise and a commission.” The promise
is the gift of the Holy Spirit and of his own continual presence, as
heard in the final words of Matthew’s Gospel: “And behold, I am with you
always, until the end of the age.” This promise of the Holy Spirit was
fulfilled in a most dramatic and definitive way at Pentecost. It is also
fulfilled at every baptism and confirmation and celebration of the
Eucharist, for all of the sacraments “are actions of the Holy Spirit at
work in his Body, the Church” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, par 1116).

And
it is fulfilled in other ways as well, for the Holy Spirit works
tirelessly, through the proclamation the Word of God, through special
charisms, and through the many hidden graces offered to us, if we are
only willing to see and accept them.

The great commission, stated
in both Acts 1 and Matthew 28, is clear and succinct: to be witnesses of
Jesus Christ throughout the world, making disciples and baptizing them
in the name of the Triune God. Jesus did not ascend into the presence of
the Father to “get away” or to be silent, but so he can give himself
continually and in perfect love to his bride, the Church. The Apostle
Paul, in today’s reading from his letter to the Ephesians, pointed out
that the risen Christ is “far above every principality, authority,
power, and dominion”, having “put all things beneath his feet”.

But
the Church, he said, is Christ’s body, “the fullness of the one who
fills all things in every way.” Christ especially comes to us and fills
us when we, members of his Mystical Body, receive the Eucharist, which
expresses and communicate his love in a most profound way (cf. Catechism, par. 1380).

The
Ascension, then, is both a going away and a coming. “‘Ascension’ does
not mean departure into a remote region of the cosmos but, rather,”
observed Benedict, “the continuing closeness that the disciples
experience so strongly that it becomes a source of lasting joy.”

(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the June 5, 2011, edition of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)

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